1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to camera supports, such as tripods or unipods, and more particularly is directed to a collapsible cart and camera support unit in which the tripod or unipod forms part of a two-wheeled equipment carrying cart for transporting the tripod or the unipod on which the camera is mounted along with photographic equipment and accessories and/or other luggage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cameras, photographic equipment, supplies and accessories are usually carried in gadget bags which are placed on the ground while the photographers, both amateur and professional, do their work thereby subjecting such gadget bags to being forgotten, stolen, or at the very least, soiled or damaged. Tripods with their versatile yet bulky pan heads and operating handles are usually carried separately in collapsed condition. Together, the collapsed tripod and gadget bag present difficulty in carrying from place to place even when the tripod is strapped to the bag or when the latter has a sufficiently large interior capacity to accommodate the tripod. Photographers all share this long existing need for alleviating the inconvenience and burdensomeness of transporting their photographic equipment from place to place as well as a need for a platform on which the gadget bag may be placed while working.
Recent developments in video cameras and equipment for recording movies on video tape cassettes have created a present need for a light weight, relatively inexpensive and easily manipulatable two-wheel cart which will include a separable unipod to adjustably support the pan head of the video camera while photographing and also provide a platform support for the video cassette recorder enabling the camera and recorder to be wheeled from place to place as a unit.
A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown herein as a cart and camera support unit having a telescoping tripod leg construction wherein the inner tube section is positioned at the upper end of the leg and the outer tube forms the bottom ground engaging section so that the locking mechanism between the sections may be similar to that disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,259,407, granted July 5, 1966 and entitled Lock For Telescoping Tubes.